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UPDATE: Dismantled my Zip drive, check out how the head is actuated!!!

K

Killbat

Diamond Member
I would normally just dismantle my Zip drive to find this out, but I'm too tired. 🙂
How is the head in a Zip drive moved? What do I mean... well in a floppy drive the head is moved by a long screw driven by a run-of-the-mill DC motor, in modern HDDs the head is moved by a coil suspended between powerful permanent magnets. How's it done in a Zip drive? And what's with the high-pitched noise?

[edit] I took it apart. 🙂 Look below.
 
I don't know how the head is moved, but I'm pretty sure that the high pitched whine is just the sound made by the motor that spins the magnetic platter in the ZIP disk.

Zenmervolt
 
Whoa! A thread in general hardware that
A) Isn't tech support
- and -
B) Hasn't been asked 502495250923 times.

Way to go Killbat.

Now I'm curious to. I would say it operates more along the lines of a floppy drive...after all Zip drives are pretty slow 😉

Does anyone actually know?
 
OK, I took the thing apart.
IMAGE

The first thing to note is that the drive is held together with NO SCREWS. The plastic rim that runs along the sides has clips that hold the cover on. Interesting...

Second, I noticed the brightly colored plastic levers they put in there. Flashy, eh? 😉

Third, the head is holed up in what is apparantly a spring-loaded solenoid assembly. Had I had my Torx drivers on hand, I would've taken that apart, but... 🙂
The head is attached to a coil which is wound around a permenant magnet core (not in contact with the core, it slides freely). The spring pulls the head back, completely out of the disk cart. The whining noise must be the vibration of the coil as the digital circuitry regulates its position against the spring. Unfortunately I couldn't get the drive to function while open (there are functional structures on the lid😛), but I can tell by the movement of the drive when I hold it in my hand that the head is moving fairly quickly. This solenoid type actuator accounts for the relatively quick access time of the drive (<50ms). Neato! 😛
 
No way, loogie, I'm sure there are plenty of geeks who find this bit of information interesting. If not, then, well, I have lost some confidence in AT's geekishness. 🙂
 
loogie's just jealous cuz you thought of it first 'bat 🙂 Monday nights are suck...what the hell are you going to do with one? That's a great way to spend a boring monday.
 
Ah, ya, an inventory. The only drive devices I found in there were
1) the pancake/stepper motor for the spindle
2) the coil/magnet array for the head
3) the small solenoid for ejecting the disk
 
I couldn't help but notice when I enlarged and digitally enhanced that picture: a little red box in the back corner of the drive with a tiny red digital readout and a sign saying, &quot;Time remaining until click-of-death.&quot;
 
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